1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mechanism that enables an occupant of a vehicle seat to manually adjust the vertical and the fore and aft positions of the seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, vertical seat adjustment capability in automobiles was reserved for expensive luxury vehicles. Recently, however, in response to increased consumer demands, many automobile manufacturers have begun providing, in smaller economy cars, vehicle seats that are adjustable in the vertical as well as the fore and aft direction. One problem encountered in providing such a feature is that the increased weight, complexity, and expense of conventional powered seat adjustment systems have made such devices impractical for use in smaller, less-expensive cars. Thus, automobile manufacturers have turned to compact, manually operated, and mechanically simple seat adjustment mechanisms for economy cars.
The manual, six-way seat adjuster, providing fore and aft horizontal adjustment capabilities, and independent height adjustment capabilities for the forward and rearward portions of the seat cushion, is well known in the art. Typically, one or more adjusting levers are provided for the occupant of the seat to manipulate to allow manual adjustment of the seat to a desired position. While six-way seat adjusters are well known, there nevertheless remains the constant need and challenge to improve the reliability of the manual six-way seat adjuster while at the same time reducing the number of parts required and simplifying the construction and operation of such devices.